Prandelli offers to resign after World Cup exit

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has offered to resign following the team's elimination from the World Cup, he told a news conference today.

Prandelli's men went down 1-0 to a Diego Godín header, to mark the second consecutive tournament that the side have been knocked out in the first round.

Prandelli was earlier left fuming after seeing his team bundled out of the World Cup by the Celeste, blaming referee Marcos Rodríguez for the Azzurri elimination.

"It is absurd to left with 10 men in a game like this. There were no hard fouls or any that were sendings off," the trainer fired after the match, referring to the decision to give a red card to midfielder Claudio Marchisio.

"You cannot influence a match in that way, the referee ruined it."

Italy began their World Cup campaign in positive fashion, beating England 2-1. Successive defeats to Costa Rica and Uruguay, however, sealed the Europeans' fate, as they finished third in Group D with three points out of a possible nine.